A versatile wavetable-based model for synthesis of piano tones

Abstract

A synthesis model has been developed based on short-time spectral analysis of a wide range of Yamaha Diskclavier notes performed at a variety of velocities and articulations. Frequency components are sorted by critical band, and each band is reduced to a wavetable controlled by the fundamental frequency and the rms amplitude envelope for that band. Inharmonicity is controlled by appropriately stretching the fundamental frequency for each wavetable. In some cases, it is possible to combine critical bands into larger bands, thus improving the data reduction with only slightly reduced quality. In addition, transient noise, obtained by subtracting a full sinusoidal synthesis from the original signal, is used to improve attack and release authenticity. Preliminary results of listening tests indicate that on average subjects correctly identify full-critical-band-model synthetic tones only about 60% of the time when compared to original sounds. An intelligent computer synthesis instrument has been coded which allows production of arbitrary musical scores of high quality using parameter values dictated by note and velocity. However, the user may also vary certain parameters such as transient noise level, attack rate, and inharmonicity to achieve greater variety.